A Beautiful Lippmann/Chanel Mani/Pedi

July 24, 2011

I have become a bit obsessed about my mani pedi combos, and, more recently, with finding a perfect blue nail polish.I wanted a dark blue, that wasn’t too blue or purple, or too bright. As much as I might find those colours gorgeous, and I do, I know my tendencies. History has proven that I don’t like to veer too far outside my comfort zone with nail colour or I won’t wear it. And then Emilie gets it.

So back to my Blue Period and finding The Perfect Blue hue of nail polish. The Beauty Blogosphere is a wonderful world full of delicious temptations…Sabrina at The Beauty Look Book got me started on my lemming (go here to #3 for definition of lemming) for Chanel Blue Satin. She was wearing it here and as I gazed at it shining in the sun, I was in love. But I also thought Dior Bond Street might be the one for me. Alas, their dusty denim inky blue was a limited edition and sold out everywhere. Boo. I am also considering the Butter London Big Smoke as seen on LipGlossiping– wow! Maybe for fall… For your comprehensive Blue Nail Polish 101 you simply must head over to Cafe Make Up & compare her lovely swatches. Dior Tuxedo Blue is also gorgeous, but a little brighter than what I wanted. Victoria from EauMG and I had a lovely & enabling discussion about how necessary a blue polish is on Twitter the other day. I’m sure you will realize that if you don’t have a blue polish, you will need one as well…

So, in the end, I got the Chanel Blue Satin, with visions of nautical themed mani pedis dancing in my head. The real beauty of this polish is the fact that a rich indigo navy blue is a classic colour for fashion in every sense of the word. Yet, Chanel manages to make it edgy with an elegant twist, as per usual.It has the STUNNING hidden shimmer that is a Chanel signature, but what is really neat is that is almost black. No teenage electric blue here. This is as elegant as Rouge Noir, just a different take on a dark vampy mani. Navy is a great colour all year round, so even a nail polish as dark as Blue Satin can work in July. Please pardon my toes…dark colours are unforgiving and can be tricky to apply. My next pedi will be done by a professional….

See that shimmer? Only visible in the sun…

I decided on the Blue Satin for my pedi, and opted for a neutral mani, choosing Lippmann Fashion. Well, I must say I am very happy with it, despite a little buyers remorse that tried to rear it’s head as I applied the dark ink-like colour to my toes. My lovely Sales Associate at my favourite Chanel counter (The Bay) said it perfectly “Too blue to be black, yet too black to be blue”. How perfectly Chanel. Panic averted, it’s gorgeous and I love it. I will get brave enough to wear it on my fingers! Stay tuned….